Continuing working through my Hellboy and BPRD books (and yes, these are already in the Hellboy Chronology)HELLBOY: Darkness Calls by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo, picks up on Hellboy for the first time in a while (not counting a brief short story, The Mole), as an old foe reanimates Hecate, the witches of England offer Hellboy a crown and Baba Yaga finally gets a crack at revenge on Hellboy for shooting out her eye. A very good one, kicking off the arc that culminates in Hellboy’s final (sort-of) fate at the end of The Storm and the Fury.BPRD: King of Fear by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Guy Davis has the BPRD (with the help of Lobster Johnson’s ghost) going up against the troglodytes, the frogs and the Black Flame for the finish of the Plague of Frogs arc. Unfortunately, it’s not as satisfying as the previous couple of volumes since it’s also heavy on set-up for the “Hell on Earth” arc that followed (Abe’s role in the new world order, the next wave of monsters) so it lacks the satisfaction of closure. And Liz’s departure reminds me that Mignola once wanted to kill her off—her role in the next arc makes me think he has no idea what to do with her now.HELLBOY: Wild Hunt by Mignola and Fegredo (cover by Mignola, rights with current holder) has the Osiris Club recruit Hellboy to go hunting giants. An ambush by a hostile fellow hunter sends Hellboy even deeper into the world of myth where he meets Morgan leFay, learns more about his mother’s ancestry and realizes he may not have escaped his destiny as beast of the apocalypse. Another good one.BPRD Hell on Earth: New World (Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis) kicks off the new setting as Kate discovers UN financing is a mixed blessing (“We have to investigate reports I’d have laughed off a year ago.”), Abe investigates a series of mysterious disappearances, Captain Daimio explains why he’s never coming back and a young mother fights for her son (I suspect this is a deliberate Dunwich Horror riff). Rereading I can see now how this foreshadows the massive collapse of world order that follows—while the menace isn’t that far beyond the usual, Daimio points out that having something just slip through the cracks of reality is a very bad sign.
As for chronology, it’s a bit of a guess. Kate refers in New World to having two years since their first battle with the Black Flame. The first Hellboy book takes place before Liz goes with Gilfryd. And then months pass between that book and Wild Hunt, which is a vague term (three months? 11?), but I’ve done my best. So until the Hellboy Chronology gets reissued, I’m happy with my timeline.